Hanger for pictures, cardboard, and the like.



PATENTED JUNE 12, 1906.

J. D. WALSH. HANGER FOR PICTURES,

CARDBOARD {AND THE LIKE. FILED JULY24.1905.

APPLIGATION 3 14 d a bcb n 34 P hi i iii r 4555 glad k UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGE.

' JAMES D. WALSH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 12, 1906.

Application filed m 24,1905. Serial No. 271,028.

To all; whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES D. WALSH, a

subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hangers for Pictures, Cardboard, and the Like, of which the followingis a full, clear,

"and exact description, reference being had to the acco'mpanying drawings, forming a part hereof. My invention has relation to improvements in hangersfor unframed pictures, cardboard,

mattings, and, in fact, any character of sheet material intended to be exposed to view; and

it consists in the novel construction of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front eleva' tion showing the application of myinvention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the hanger, showing a cardboard gripped be tween its jaws. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elee ver removed. Fig. 5 is 16 locking-lever detached, and Fig. 6 is aside view'showing the jaws open and also in dottedv osition showing them partiallyv closed and t e positionof the lever corrspondingto such partially-closed position "of the jaws and showing also the supplemental hook coupledto the securing-pron g of the ban 'er.

T e object of my invention is to construct a hook for the hanging of cardboard, pictures, and the like which may be attached either to a sheet of burlap or similar reticulated material or suspended from a rod, wire, or string; one which may accommodate variable thicknesses of board, and one possessing further and other advantages better apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 1 represent,

respectively, the relative stati onary and movable members or jaws of a'el'a'sp adapted to embrace the faces of thecardboard or sheet to be hung, the clesp being preferably made of a single-sheet of metal folded at what constitutes'tiiehinge-j'oint between the jaws, said jiiint being resilient and normally tendin to force the jaws a art. Formed with w at constitutes the re atively stationary jaw and spanning the edges of the movable jaw 1 are brackets or arms 2, between whose free ends is pivoted a locking-lever 3, the base of which is formed into an. eccentric or cam loop 4, having a milled surface, the ribs or serrations 5 thereof being disposed lengthwise of the loop or in a direction transverse to the lever. These serrations cooperate with a correspondthe movable jaw for apurpose presently to appear. Immediately above the serrations 5 the movable jaw has stamped therefrom a resilient tongue 6, between which and the body of the jaw may be inserted and retained a price-cardC. Stam edfrom the stationary jaw at a point below t e hinge-joint is a rearwardly-depending prong 7, which may be inserted into the meshes of a suitable'background of burla or equivalent-reticulated sheet B, to whic the hangers are attached. Should occasion require the attachingof the hanger to a wire, rod, or string S, the same may be-provided with a hook 8, the base of which is sli ped or passed over the prong 7, as shown in ig. 6-. The free ends of the jaws 1 1 are provided with rubber tips, pads, or cushions 9 for ri ping the cardboard P, the soft material 0 1 which the tips are composed insuring against scratchin or similar estruction of the, material 0 which the cardboard may be composed. When the jaws 1 1 are open, the lockinglever hangs substantially parallel to the movable jaw 1. Upon insertion of the picture P between the jaws the swinging of the lever upward forces the movable jaw toward the stationary jaw, thus glipping the picture be-. tween them, and when once securely gripped the lever remains in its locked position by reason of the frictional engagement between the serrated or milled surfaces 5 5 The purpose cf making the loop 4 cam-shaped or eccentric to the axis of oscillation of the lockinglever is to enable the jaws to be forced into greater or less proximity toward one another, depending on the thickness of the material or board to be gripped between said jaws. The farther up the lever is swung the it will force the jaws together.

As above stated, the-hanger proper, with the exception of the locking-lever, may be and preferably is made of a single sheet of metal, (or other material,) together with the tongue 6 and prong 7. With the use of my hanger pictures may be handled indefinitely without danger of deterioration or ing series of serrations or ribs 5, formed on leaving any mark where the same have been gripped between the cushioned jaws, as is Obvious. t

Having described my invention, what .I claim is v a As an article of manufacture,aclasp made of a single sheet of metal and comprising a pair of normally open jaws connected'by a resilient hinge-joint, a depending prong'stamped from one of the jaws, an upwardly-projecting centrallydisposed tongue stamped from the ,0 posite jaw, a pair of arms formed with t e jaw carrying the prong and projecting for- Wardly and spanning the edges of the jaw I carrying the tongue, a locking-lever pivoted between the ends of the arms, and having a basal eccentric serrated loop for forcing the jaws together, the adjacent aw having serrations for engagingthe serrations of the loop, and cushioning tips or pads on the jaws, sub- 20 stantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix in presence of two witnesses.

- JAMES D. WALSH.

my signature Witnesses:

, EMIL STAREK,

MARY D. Wmrco'un. 

